Tuesday, January 31, 2023

Winter's flying by

January is over.  One more month of winter.  Then spring.  Of course, maybe more spring in DC and NJ than IL, NY and MA.  And FL never really gets winter, unless you count going down to 60 degrees at night winter. You might have to actually wear sneakers there rather than sandals. But give up the shorts?  Never.

So, the big news of the last two weeks was, you guessed it: a late push of the KC quarterback who was already out of bounds that sent the wrong team to the Super Bowl. It wasn't the big news for everyone?  Mary thinks it was.  Right? Just one more question on this.  Who feels sorry for the guy who pushed him?  Not Patrick Mahomes, I bet. There's always next year, but I was shocked to read an article titled – Why are the Bengals So Annoying?  Really?  Have we become the Patriots? I could only wish.

Back to family. Looks like there was a brief hospital stay for Everett who was experiencing some stomach issues that wouldn't go away. From the looks of him in the hospital bed, I might even say it was a case of fake-itis, that got out of hand, except he'd have to be at least five years older for that.  Glad to hear he's okay, and that he's not Ferris Buehler.

We're getting ready for our trip to points west, which means a phone call to Oakland.  Annie had just become certified as a professional coach, and is hanging out her shingle for clients looking for new careers, jobs, etc.  She and Sankar gave us a few tips on where to go and what to see in Hawaii.  Sankar is still in Brazil and loving it.  Who wouldn't?

Speaking of Brazil, Joe has a departure date to return to Washington. He'll be coming back in March, while Leonor stays down there for a few more months so the boys can go to school/day care. Here's a photo of Thomas in the shirt he designed. The adults in that family are planning a trip to Rio for Carnevale. Sounds like fun, when you're of a certain age.

Down in DC, we hear that Simon has new names for his parents.  Margaret and Andrew.  Not Mommy, Daddy. And we pass along a photo that will be in his bio when he surpasses Alex Ovechkin for most goals scored.  

We had a couple of phone calls with the folks in Port Orange, but mostly about a hot water heater.  Yes, and you can imagine, there's a little story and maybe a lesson. You wouldn't remember our Christmas letter that talked about living in this house for ten years, and things beginning to break. Well, the hot water heater that Johnny installed 16 years ago went kaput, a good eight years after its estimated life span.  The lesson, though, is don't go to the movies. We had fir the first time, I think since Covid, gone to our local cinema to take in A Man Called Otto (recommended by the way).  When I went to put the cat in his sleeping quarters – the old basement – I couldn't help but notice WATER!  Pretty much everywhere. I grabbed the shop-vac and started scooping out the water, and then saw it was coming out in spurts from the bottom of the hot water heater. The story doesn't end there, but I see this has already gone on too long, and, suffice it to say, we were without hot water for almost a week. The actual lesson is - we take for so much for granted. And, also, it's nice to have a plumbing consultant at the other end of the line, who will answer the call. Thanks Johnny.

Mary did her annual one-hour swim with her team this past week, and topped it off with a team potluck dinner (not here, fortunately.) She won the award for most times swimming the 500in practice  – 20 laps. Also in the pool was John, who took the award for being officially old.  He's signed up for deep water aerobics, and he and the teacher are the only men in the class. 

So dry-er (or damp) January is almost over. What does that mean for February?  We find we're not so keen on jumping back into wetness. 

With that sobering news, we'll sign off, sending our love from up here.






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